I will/would never….

That’s it.  I won’t say it.

If I have learned anything in my 57 + years of living on this earth it is that life is unpredictable.

Life is unfortunately not always black and white. There appears to be some gray in there at times and that is why I just can’t say those words — I would never.

What if I allowed those words and that choice to define me?

It might mean that I would have missed out on a lot of things.

I might have never lived in Australia if I had said I would never.

I might have missed out on taking a small airplane flight with my brother while he did telemetry surveys on pronghorns if I had said I would never.

I might have not met some of the most wonderful people that are in my life if I had said I would never.

I might not have this blog if I had said I would never.

Life is about taking risks and stretching personal boundaries at times and when I hear people utter those words “I would never” it makes me cringe.

One of the things that I realize more each day is that I have the power to go beyond the ordinary and be extraordinary each and every day.  I may not have the means to change huge things in the world but I can make a difference in my own small way.

By allowing myself to embrace different ideas and opinions it allows me to eliminate that phrase “I would never” from my vocabulary.

When our boys were little I caught myself saying “I would never let my boys do _____” and then I realized what I was saying.  Just because I thought it was something I would never support who knew how time might change my opinion on that very thing?

Sometimes we don’t know how we will react to something until it is right under our nose, in our house, in our family, in our lives.

So today I challenge each of you to drop the phrase “I would never” from your vocabulary.  It can limit you and once it is no longer a part of your vocabulary a lot of positive things will occur.  Open your heart and your mind.

Be extraordinary.